This past weekend Cincinnati celebrated their NFL team, The Cincinnati Bengals, going to the Super Bowl. Getting to a Super Bowl is no small feat. Four NFL teams have never been, twelve teams have never won the championship. For eight teams, it's been over twenty-five years since they've won. The community was electric with celebration. Folk's countenance was as bright as the fully-lit City landscape. Public schools were closed on Monday so families could watch the late-night game together. Some even invested time and money to travel to Los Angeles to view the game in person. Tickets were over $5,000 a piece. It was for many an event of a lifetime, something to be CHERISHED - held dear, protected and cared for with love, and kept with hope on one's mind. We cherish people. We cherish experiences, and we cherish time.
It's hard to believe it's been almost two years since beloved actor Chadwick Boseman passed away at age 43 of colon cancer. The world watched in disbelief as the versatile thespian, known for his character portrayals of such great African-Americans as Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall—and for embodying the Marvel Comic superhero The Black Panther, began to weaken before our eyes. People speculated as to what was wrong with Boseman, some ridiculed him. No one knew he had been fighting for his life and preparing for his death for 4 years. For Boseman, time was precious. He knew how long he had left and made seven movies while battling cancer. He said, "You have to cherish things in a different way when you know the clock is ticking." The clock is ticking for all of us. That's why the prayer of Psalm 90:12 is, "Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts to wisdom." None of us knows how long we, or those we love, will be with us.

On Monday we celebrated Valentine's day, a time when we appreciate and nurture love. 1 Cor 13:13 says that faith, hope, and love are the three things that abide forever, but the greatest of these is love. If you've ever grieved the loss of someone you love by any means...you understand that love is to be cherished. R&B Legends Kool and the Gang's song "Cherish the Love," gives us a great admonition through its lyrics, "Let's cherish every moment we have been given, the time is passing by...Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live, cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love."